Salvation and a New Beginning - A Star Wars Story
by Red Phoenix Queen
Summary: In ROTJ it is Luke who goes to fight Vader but what if it was someone else who went to fight him and instead of Vader dying he comes back as Anakin Skywalker? Well this is my version of what could have happened. In this the person responsible for bring back Anakin is not Luke but in fact his twin Elena Skywalker. Read the note in the first chapter if you don't understand.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

**AN: This story is based on the fight in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi between Luke and Darth Vader. But this is my own version so there are some changes instead of Luke I had put in my own character Elena Skywalker (Please understand I like Leia but in my version of Star Wars Anakin never married Padme instead he met my character Nicole Caine and in my opinion Leia was nothing like Nicole so I changed her into Elena.) Moving on Elena like her brother is Force-sensitive and follows her brother in his path of training to be a Jedi. **

**AN2: This is my version of how Anakin is turned back to good and the life he has with his children.**

**Salvation and a New Beginning**

With a somersault, Elena landed on the catwalk hanging from the ceiling.

Jedi and Sith Lord stared at each other in utter astonishment. Elena's heart did a somersault of its own in her chest.

Something inside her filled with light again. Hope blossomed in her soul, childlike and pure. And the little girl within her wanted to cry out with joy.

She couldn't give up. It was her father's soul in the balance.

She couldn't afford to fail today. Not now, when it mattered the most. She couldn't fail her father. She was Vader's... Anakin's only hope.

"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destruction."

Elena felt it coming before her father actually did it. Vader threw his saber at her, his intent clear. The young woman moved aside. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the red blade cut the supports holding the gantry. She could only yelp as she rolled to the lower deck, under the Emperor's platform.

The brutal attack shattered the calmness the young woman had been relying on. Primal fear for her life took over, and once on the ground she rushed to hide in the shadows. Leaning back against a pillar, she closed her eyes and reached for the Force inside her, trying to get her heartbeat and breathing back under control.

Her father couldn't have attempted to kill her. He couldn't! Parents didn't do that, did they? Or was he clinging to something that had ceased to exist long ago? Was he seeing what he _wanted_ to see?

'_Why are you doing this, Dad? Do you want to kill me? Do you want me to kill you? Do you want to die? Has life become such a burden that you want me to free you from the responsibility, and take your place beside the Emperor? Is that the Destiny you want for me? The same Destiny you suffered?'_

No one could answer her questions. She had to make a decision. Now. This was the point of no return.

She felt Vader close, and instinctively, she withdrew further into the shadows.

Vader came down the stairs, found his saber and ignited it. At the edge of the shadows though, he stopped.

There weren't many places where his child could hide, but for some reason he was loath to venture in.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he stepped into the darkness warily, holding out his blade in front of him.

The girl's nearness disturbed him deeply. The Light wrapped protectively around her like a shield, and it repelled him.

The Light burned. The Light hurt.

The Light had been home once.

Not anymore. Never again.

The girl's fear called out to him like a beacon. Elena feared for her life, for her soul. Feared Vader. She was frightened and sad. Infinitely sad.

A part of Vader responded to those feelings. They resonated so profoundly with him that he began to reach out to them. But he caught himself in time.

He wanted the girl to surrender. He wanted her to make things easier for all and give herself to the Dark Side.

Elena was his only hope. Without her, his existence had been for nought.

"You cannot hide forever, Elena." he reminded the young woman. He wanted her to yield, _now_. He wanted to put an end to it. For Elena. For himself. For the two of them.

"You'll have to come in and get me." answered the disembodied voice.

"I will not give you the advantage that easily."

Elena's heart sank at those words. Was that what her father honestly thought? That she was luring him there to strike him down?

She felt like crying.

'_Daddy! Daddy! Where are you? I need you, Daddy!'_

'_Your daddy's not here, Elena. He's gone,'_

'_Gone? But I want my daddy. I need him!'_

The memory came to her unbidden, as vivid as if it had happened last night. How many of her childhood nights had been filled with those nightmares.

Until one day, the dreams stopped.

But the need remained. It had accompanied her all her life.

'_I wish I'd have known him.'_

'_How did my father die?'_

'_I want to become a Jedi like my father.'_

Even now. Now more than ever.

'_Come with me.'_

She wasn't an eight-year old calling out to her daddy in the middle of the night. She was a twenty year old calling out to her father, needing him with all the longing and despair of a life in desperate need.

But had this need, had this love to be returned to be complete? To be worthy? Or was it worthy precisely because it _wasn't_ returned? Had she been selfish in her need for her father to love her?

She brought up one hand to her chest when a path she hadn't considered before opened up before her in an explosion of Light. Alive, pulsing, breathing, like a nurturing heartbeat.

She had to let go of her attachment and follow her heart whatever it took. She had to be ready to give up everything for that which she believed in.

Her very life, if necessary.

A smile of boundless joy illuminated her features as a trail of purifying tears slid down her face. Reaching down, she unclipped her lightsaber from her belt, put it on the floor, and pushed it in her father's direction through the Force.

The metallic sound of something moving towards him made Vader turn his head sharply. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his child's lightsaber rolling in his direction. He reached out his hand, and the weapon jumped into his palm. He stared at it in shocked confusion, not knowing what to make of it.

A movement straight ahead put him on guard, lightsaber at the ready.

It looked like the girl had decided to come out of her hiding place and face him. But how did she intend to do that unarmed?

"I know that there is good inside you Dad. But you've allowed the Darkness to hide it away from you. You've allowed the Emperor to control you like a puppet. He had lied and manipulated you from the very beginning. You believed that you lost your one true love but I know that you didn't kill my mother. She lost the hope to continue living but she died believing that there was good still inside you."

Elena stopped and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Then she glared at her father with a look of determination.

"If you truly are evil… then destroy me. Because I can't destroy you."

Vader stared at the girl. She had closed her eyes and stood there waiting for the blow that would end her life. But Vader couldn't bring himself to deliver it.

She reminded him of Nicole. Her fierceness, her stubbornness. She also reminded him of himself when he was younger it was possible that she got her stubbornness from both Nicole and himself.

Could he destroy her? Could he destroy a part of himself? Of her? Of the life the two of them had created? The only part of him that was pure, untouched by the Darkness that had devoured his mind and his spirit?

A pearly teardrop trickled down Elena's cheek, and Vader watched its slow descent, until it was lingering on the girl's chin. The Sith Lord felt the irresistible urge to wipe it away.

Throwing his head back, he let out a piercing scream. Long, raw, inhuman. The scream of a wild, tired, wounded animal, crying out his horror to the universe. The horror he carried within.

Vader crumbled. Something black and ugly was stripped from him and thrown away. He was ripped open, bleeding from a million gaping wounds.

And then, he was being cradled in blissful gentleness. Cuddled against something warm and fragrant. He sought to snuggle up to it as deeply as he could. So deeply he disappeared in it.

It hurt like it had never hurt before. Not even when his body had been reduced to a charred mass of flesh. But in that crucible of excruciating pain, a soft voice reassured him that everything was all right, that he was the maker of his own destiny once more. That he was free.

Vader's soul soared on the wings of the freedom he had thought he would never know again. Freedom of choice, freedom of thought. Freedom of the heart.

A caring, loving presence beside him watched him display his wings, like a caged bird that's released after years of imprisonment.

Turning around, he saw a pair of breathtaking blue eyes encircled by a glowing, youthful face he felt he should know.

A cry of joy escaped his lips, and Vader made a dive for the presence, that, laughing out loud, opened its arms to him.

They met and embraced ecstatically. To Vader, this moment was more real than anything he had ever experienced in the real world. He could touch it, and smell it, and taste it, and hold it to him with strength enough to crush it. But his need only fuelled that something's own need. And the crushing embrace continued until they sublimated that lifetime of need in each other.

They remained suspended on eternity for what felt like forever. But inevitably, they slowly floated back down to earth. Vader resisted for a moment, knowing what awaited him within his own broken body. The presence soothed him with calming thoughts, promising him that in the path he had chosen lay a healing unlike anything he had ever imagined.

No. It couldn't be so easy. He had been a willing slave to the Darkness. He had given up all hope of ever returning. It was said to be impossible. Once you started on the Dark path, you were doomed for good. You would be consumed in life, and in death.

This had to be a dream. He was deceiving himself in this sweet delirium of love and belonging.

'_This is not a dream, Dad. I knew that there was good in you. It just took a while for you to realise it yourself.'_ A voice spoke in his mind.

'_E-Elena?'_ Vader asked tentatively, not daring to hope.

'_Yes, Dad. It's me.'_ Elena spoke.

'_My little one. My brave, beautiful angel. At last I can hold you. My precious, beloved daughter. How to thank you, how to repay you for the gift you've given me? How to love you the way you deserve? My sweet child. The most perfect part of me!'_ Vader couldn't stop the litany of endearments. They were gushing out of him in an avalanche of tenderness.

Elena shuddered and pressed up to him needfully. Her smaller hand settled on his mask and caressed it, as if she was touching skin instead of durasteel.

Vader's fingertips grazed his daughter's half-closed eyelids, and suddenly stopped.

Sensing the breathless anticipation in her father's mind, Elena gazed up at him.

"What colour are your eyes?" Vader asked hoarsely.

Elena smiled like she had never done before, and Vader's insides constricted with love. Reaching up, the young woman framed her father's face in both hands.

"See for yourself, Dad."

Vader's blood ran cold at his daughter's implicit request. A part of him began to retreat in fear.

'_NO!'_ Elena's mind-voice filled his thoughts again. _'Don't be afraid. There is nothing to fear. I made a promise to you, and now I'm asking you to trust me.'_

Still, Vader hesitated. Without the protection of his mask, he would live only a few minutes.

'_You will live forever, Dad,'_ Elena swore with all the love in her overflowing heart. _'Reach out and see.'_

Gingerly, Vader obeyed, not knowing what to expect. He felt himself breathing. He felt his lungs expanding within his ribcage and filling with oxygen. But there was something else there. Something different about his body, about...

Vader gasped and straightened up, monitoring himself all over, inside and out. He double-checked himself, refusing to believe what the Force and his senses were telling him.

A barrage of jubilant emotions erupted inside him, and he lost himself in them and in the undying, self-sacrificing love that had realized the miracle.

'_Elena! Oh, my dear angel...!'_

The big smile on Elena's lips mirrored Vader's. They were swept away in an ecstatic feeling of togetherness that made them forget about everything except each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, Elena stiffened. Her body became so rigid that it seemed to turn to stone, snapping Vader out of the state of euphoria he was swimming in. Before he could venture outside himself and find out what was going on, the girl surged up, and covered her father's body with her own smaller one.

Vader heard it before knowing what it was. Force-lightning crackled around them with an ominous electric sound, hitting his daughter squarely on the back. The brutal force of the impact threw Elena forward, and Father and Daughter fell to the floor, the child on top of the father, covering him even as she slipped into unconsciousness.

An animalistic roar escaped Vader's throat. The echo of the searing pain in his child's body resonated within every cell of his own body, amplified by the realization of what his daughter had just done to protect him.

A raspy chuckle announced Palpatine's approach.

"Fools!" the Sith master spat. "Both Father and Daughter. Neither is a match for the power of the Dark Side," he sneered. "The Skywalker blood was always tainted with too much passion. Sooner or later it was destined to be your undoing," he let out a nasty grin. "It is fitting that you die together now, paying the price for your lack of vision."

The blinders came off as if someone had pushed a curtain aside and allowed the sunlight to burst into a room. Vader saw everything more clearly than ever in his life. The role he had played in Palpatine's scheme, the pawn he had been. The lies he had fallen for because he had _wanted_ to fall for them, because he had _needed_ desperately to believe in them. How he had been the architect of his own destruction, and now his daughter's.

"NOOOOO!" he roared again, splaying out his arms across his child's back in an instinctive attempt to shield her from Palpatine's relentless attack. Elena's dead weight on him made impossible to move. The girl's lifeforce faltered, and Vader never knew a greater panic.

Palpatine stopped for a moment, only to gloat and mock them cruelly before lashing out again.

Time seemed to stand still for Vader. His entire world narrowed down to his daughter. To her body lying on him. So strong and warm. So small and courageous. So deadly still.

No! Not dead! Never dead! This precious life had to be protected at any cost!

And for the first time in decades, Vader called upon the Light to assist him. The response was immediate and triumphant. The Light and his love for his daughter combined in a blazing strength of power. Rolling to the side, careful not to crush his child under his weight, he rose to his feet and released a Force push so unbridled that Palpatine disappeared from sight. Force lightning was the only trail he left in his wake.

One single purpose filled Vader's mind. Mechanically, he got rid of the helmet and the mask that had been his life-support for over twenty years, and dropped them to the floor. Without looking, he reached out and one of the lightsabers jumped into his palm, igniting halfway. A blue glow illuminated the chilling darkness.

He advanced, and with every step, the Light sang higher and higher, heralding the return of the Chosen One.

Finally, Palpatine appeared before him. Hissing like a snake on seeing him, the Sith Lord threw out his hands, casting the most vicious attack that died harmlessly on the blade Vader was holding in front of him.

"NO! NO!" Palpatine cried out in an appalling display of hatred and helplessness.

And the shrieking voice and the disbelief it conveyed, were all Vader needed to know.

The Time had come.

"It _is_ fitting that you are giving me back my name, for you were the one who took it from me." he said coldly, staring down in disgust at the creature of sheer evil before him.

Screeching in seething anger, Palpatine threw another charge, as useless as the previous one. With a swift, deft move, the blue saber embedded itself in his chest, exiting through his back. Darkness engulfed the black soul, and devoured it into nothingness before he could exhale his last breath.

"You are mistaken," Anakin let out a smile full of contempt, pulling back his arm and deactivating the lightsaber. The dead body collapsed forward. "It is the _love_ in the Skywalker blood that has been _your_ undoing." he stood straighter and shot a last look at the man who had owned him for half his life. Then, turning about, he rushed to his child's side, dropping to his knees beside her. Unhesitatingly, he took off his gloves, his shoulder and chest plates, and gathered the inert body into his arms.

His restored humanity was the last thing in his mind. The fact that he was whole again, all flesh and blood, didn't evoke the slightest emotion in him. The only thing he cared about was the fading life he was cradling in his arms; his only thought, keeping it with him.

His hand began a fevered journey all over the soft features, willing them to react to his caresses, to his love.

"Please, Elena. Please, open your eyes and look at me," his fingers slid through the fine blonde hair, and he marvelled at the overwhelming sensations spreading inside him at the simple touch. Bending down, he pressed his lips to the warm forehead, kissing his daughter for the first time. "Stay with me, little one. Why would I want to live without you?" Closing his eyes, he began an unconscious rocking movement. He embraced his daughter's head to his heart, and held the lifeless body as close as it was physically possible.

When his caressing hand came into contact with his child's back, he shuddered. The Force vibrated inside him furiously, and with absolute certainty, he _knew_ his daughter had suffered massive damage to the nerves of her spine, and severe burning to her back.

Biting back a cry, Anakin continued his feverish stroking all over the ravaged back, turning to the Light with all the passion and faith in his shattering heart. Giving in to despair and hopelessness wouldn't help his daughter. Faith was all he had. Faith in his love for his child, faith in the Force. Faith in the possibility of miracles. That was the gift his angel had given him today, and he wouldn't let him down. Not again. _Never_ again.

He focused inward and offered his life, everything he was, in exchange for his child's life. He pressed his forehead to his daughter's, passing on to her all his strength, all his love and devotion. He opened his mind wide and fumbled for the link they shared. There was no response from Elena's end, and he renewed his efforts, calling out to the bond to open and take everything it needed from him.

His palm caressed the wounded back, and he made a wish for every burn he encountered. His fingertips throbbed and itched, but he ignored it. He gave himself over to the love pouring out of him, and concentrated on channelling it into his daughter's body, following a sudden impulse that wouldn't be denied.

The body in his arms stirred faintly. Anakin moved back with a soft gasp, just enough to look at the young face that was his entire world. His whole life.

Colour had returned to the pale features. A healthy pink covered the smooth skin. Moving his hand again, Anakin cupped the cherished head and propped it up against his shoulder, giving all of himself for his daughter's comfort. He roamed the girlish face again with fervent caresses, savouring the pure joy of holding his greatest treasure.

The long lashes fluttered and Anakin held his breath, waiting for the moment when his child would bless him by laying her eyes on him. The wait was short. Elena's eyes opened a heartbeat later and quietly fixed on her father.

Anakin's lips broke out in a full-blown smile, and his fingertips immediately reached for the vulnerable eyelids.

"Blue." he whispered thickly, his chest tightening with more love than he could contain. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss on the windows to the soul that had redeemed him. When he moved away, Elena was smiling, drinking from the sight of him, eager to recognize herself in the man who had fathered her.

Reaching up, Elena took Anakin's face in her hand. Anakin hissed through his teeth at the feel of that warm hand touching him. His first human touch in over twenty years. He trembled inside and lost himself in the devastating feeling, wishing it would never go away.

"Blue." the girl echoed, touching her thumbpad across the lower eyelid and wiping away the tears gathered there.

Grounding himself on the love his daughter was raining on him, Anakin brought the hand to his lips and kissed it. But the hand wasn't ready to stop. Freeing itself from his grasp, it moved up and disappeared in his hair. Anakin sighed out loud.

Elena massaged her father's scalp, feeling the wavy strands slide between her fingers, tickling him. She shook her head in awe, enraptured by the image before her. This moment was the answer to the prayers of a lifetime.

"Blonde." she breathed, fondling a single lock of hair.

Anakin's smile rivalled his daughter's in intensity and brightness. He mirrored Elena's caress so tenderly that he made his child shudder with emotion.

"Blonde." he repeated with a nod, playing with the hair so much like his own.

An eternity passed in the blink of an eye. An eternity in which Father and Daughter opened their souls to each other and shared everything they were, everything they had been, and everything they hoped to be. Everything was humbly offered, and proudly accepted.

Tears began to fall from Anakin's eyes again. Tears of love and remorse. Fingers stroking his cheek brought him back ever-so-gently. His eyes met the loving ones that stared at him with more compassion and understanding than he deserved.

"Dad..." the word was a universe in itself. A statement, a claim, a reassurance, a dream come true. Anakin marvelled at how a single word could define him so utterly.

'_The happiest moment of my life...'_

"Now we can be a proper family. You, me and Luke."

Anakin stared at his daughter. Elena smiled when she realised that her father didn't know about Luke.

"Luke is my brother, Dad. You have a daughter and a son."

Anakin gasped. He didn't have just one child but two? A daughter and a son?

"What is he …?"

"Luke is the splitting image of you Dad. He is also a Jedi we both wanted to continue your legacy."

Anakin smiled and held his daughter close. He couldn't believe that after all this time he had something to fight for. His children, his grown up children who were following in his footsteps.

As they travelled Anakin was asking Elena questions about her and Luke. She answered the best she could but there were some questions that she couldn't answer for him.

Luke watched as the ramp to the shuttle opened and Elena stepped out. He rushed over to his sister and held her close. Then he felt another presence join them. He looked up and gasped as he saw what Elena had described to him to be their father Anakin Skywalker walk towards them.

"Luke…" Anakin started only to get cut off by his son's arms wrapped around him.

"Father…" Luke whispered before he turned back to see his sister's eyes fill with tears.

Both father and son held out an arm inviting Elena to join them. She smiled before she rushed into the waiting arms of her father and brother.

Anakin smiled as he held his children in his arms. He thanked the Force for giving him a second chance.

That night Anakin stood in the doorway of Luke and Elena's room. He smiled as he watched his two children sleep peacefully. He dreamed of becoming a father but he never dreamed that he would have two beautiful children who made his heart swell with joy.

He walked over to Luke's bed noticing the blanket covering the young man had fallen down to his waist, he gently pulled it up over his son watching as Luke snuggled underneath it. He reached out and gently stroked his son's hair before he pressed a kiss to his oldest child's forehead.

He turned to Elena's bed to come face-to-face with a pair of bright blue eyes watching him with a small smile.

Anakin smiled back at his daughter. "You young lady should be asleep." He whispered to her, walking over to the bed.

"I felt your presence move towards Luke." Her eyes wandered over to her brother's bed where he was deep in sleep. "You're still in shock about having two children instead of one?"

Anakin stared at his daughter with a smile on his face. "The way you speak Elena makes me believe that your mother is not truly gone."

Elena stared at her father, confusion written on her face.

"Your mother may not be with us physically but spiritually she lives on inside you and your brother as well as my heart."

Elena sat up and hugged her father. "I just miss her. I never knew her."

Anakin held his daughter as she quietly cried for her mother. "I miss her too, Elena. But if she was here she would be so proud of you. You brought me back to the Light and destroyed the Darkness inside me."

Elena smiled as she slowly drifted off to sleep in her father's strong arms, feeling safe and loved.

Anakin felt his daughter drifted off and gently laid her down and covered her up with her blanket.

"I'm also proud of you, Elena. You proved to me that there is a reason for me to keep on fighting. If it wasn't for you I won't have known about Luke. You are both my guardian angels." He whispered to her.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead and gently stroked her cheek before he gently got up off the bed.

He made his way towards the door and turned back smiling at the sight of his two children. "Sweet dreams, my children." He said quietly before he left the room.

Later that night Anakin was sleeping peacefully when he felt a presence enter his room.

He reached out his hand out to grab his lightsaber when a voice stopped him.

"Dad?"

Anakin sat up. That voice…

"Elena? What's wrong?"

Elena moved and sat on the bed and turned on the bedside table lamp. Anakin's eyes focused on his daughter. She looked troubled.

"I had to check to make sure that this wasn't a dream."

"You thought that I would disappear like this was all just that, a dream."

Elena nodded her head then turned towards the door were Luke stood.

"We both did." The young man replied as he walked over to stand by his sister.

Anakin couldn't help but smile at the sight of his two children in front of him. Luke was all like himself while Elena looked like her mother with his hair and eyes.

"Luke, Elena listen to me. I am not going to leave you. I have been separated from you two for twenty years and I don't intend to miss anymore time I can spend with both of you. You are my children and I love you both."

Luke and Elena smiled and hugged their father letting go of the tears they were holding. Anakin held his children thinking of what he had said. He had missed the first twenty years of his children's lives and he intended not to miss another minute he would spend with them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

The next day found Elena standing in a doorway watching her father and brother as Anakin was teaching Luke about letting the Force guide him.

After a while Elena decided to have a bit of fun. She focused on the lightsabers that her father and brother carried and slowly they floated towards her without her father or her brother noticing that they were missing from their belts.

When Luke felt something was wrong he went to grab his lightsaber when his hand felt nothing. He looked down and saw his lightsaber was gone.

"Luke? What's wrong, son?" Anakin had noticed Luke was no longer looking at him.

Luke looked up at his father. "My lightsaber, it's gone."

Anakin frowned then he decided to see if he still had his lightsaber. He came to same conclusion as Luke their lightsabers were gone.

Anakin started to think where the lightsabers could be when he turned and faced Elena with a serious face.

"Something wrong, Dad?" Elena asked, too sweetly in Anakin's mind.

"Very funny, Elena. Hand them over."

"Hand what over?"

Luke looked at his father then his sister then back to his father then finally back to Elena.

"You…" He made a start towards her which spurred her to make a run for it.

Anakin laughed as he watched his son chase his daughter before he joined in.

Soon Elena found herself being tickled to death by her brother and her father. "Okay, I surrender."

Slowly her brother and father stopped their attack and helped her up. She then pulled out the lightsabers and handed them back to their owners.

Anakin smiled as he watched Luke embrace Elena in a hug before both jumped on their father hugging him for dear life.

Later Luke was wandering the halls of the Jedi Temple. He could image what it must have felt like for his father to walk through these halls.

But his mind was else where.

Luke sighed as he remembered the day Elena told him the truth about their father.

'_Elena, are you absolutely sure about this?'_

_Elena turned to her brother, honesty filling her eyes. 'I'm positive Luke. Darth Vader was once Anakin Skywalker. He is our father. There is no other record of anyone else with the name of Skywalker.'_

_Luke sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. 'What could cause our father to turn to the Dark Side?'_

_Elena sighed as she sat next to Luke and held his hand in hers. 'He had been manipulated by the Emperor who was known as Chancellor Palpatine. He fed him lies that the Jedi had betrayed the Republic. He promised to give our father power to save our mother's life.'_

_Luke stared at Elena. 'What do you mean?'_

'_Father had recurring dreams of watching mother die in childbirth.'_

_Luke sat there for a minute thinking. Then he turned to his sister. 'Elena do you think that there is a chance for us to bring him back?'_

_Elena stared at her brother. 'I don't know but if it is all the same to you I don't want to lose the only living parent I have.'_

_Luke smiled and held his sister. 'Me neither, Elena. Me neither.'_

Luke opened his eyes and realised that his sister's stubbornness had paid off and brought back their father and what more she healed their father from his injuries. She saved his life and brought their family back together.

And now he had to go away on his first Jedi mission but the problem was that neither his father nor sister could go with him. He sighed as he made his way back to his quarter to start packing for his mission.

Anakin got in touch with Luke twice a day for an update on his progress. Right from the first transmission, Anakin told Luke to proceed carefully and watch out for anything strange or suspicious. And even though he didn't know the reason behind his father's request, Luke promised to follow his instructions to the letter.

On the morning of the fourth day, Anakin was awakened by an uncontrolled feeling of euphoria filtering through their mind-link, and he knew his child had made it. He sent back all his pride and joy at his son's achievement, and asked him once again to be careful and take care of himself. Luke assured him he would, and broke the communication with an infinitely grateful and heartfelt, _'Thank you for your faith in me, Father'_.

Later Anakin was walking through the halls heading to his quarters, his mind always on Luke. He had a horrible feeling that something was going to happen to Luke.

Once in his quarters he suddenly felt his stomach churned with nausea and he covered his mouth with his hands, as the bitter flavour of bile filled his mouth. He dashed for the bathroom and vomited his guts out there, before passing out.

"Dad, Dad, can you hear me? It's Elena, Dad. Wake up, please. Open your eyes and look at me."

His eyelids seemed to weigh a ton, but he forced himself to open them. A blurry spot greeted him and he winced. He tried harder, focusing on what appeared to be a rounded shape right in front of his line of vision. Little by little, the shape started rearranging until it became his daughter's lovely face, who was looking down at him, her blue eyes filled with worry.

"Elena, what am I do-" Then he remembered the feeling he had been having. "Luke! Oh, my goodness, Luke! NO! No, my son!" he cried out. His spirit was fleeing his body in sheer horror as his worst nightmare came alive.

"Shhh, he's all right. Luke's all right, Dad." Elena's hand gently stroked his cheek, sending him love and reassurance through their link.

"W-what do you mean? How do you know?" Anakin asked, tears streaming heedlessly down his cheeks.

"Because I talked to him 30 minutes ago," Elena smiled tenderly.

Anakin blinked in confusion. His heart was hammering so hard in his chest that his ribs almost hurt from the pounding. The room was spinning.

"30 minutes? H-how long I was out?" he demanded to know.

"Two hours." Elena replied.

"Two HOURS?" Anakin exclaimed.

Elena nodded gravely. "We couldn't bring you back. Your heart stopped beating several times, and every time we resuscitated you it stopped beating again. It was as if you were refusing to return." She bit her lips in anguish, and her cheeks lost the almost healthy colour they'd had a moment before. Her grip on his wrist became stronger. "I..." she looked down self-consciously, "I had to enter your mind and tell you that Luke was alive. Only then you returned to us."

"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." Anakin apologized. His mind was exhausted, and it took him some time to concentrate enough to achieve the barest hint of serenity. He closed his eyes and tentatively reached out with his mind. He was terrified of receiving no answer. He didn't want to live if the purest, most beautiful part of him had gone for good.

'_Luke?'_ he timidly sent.

As if it had been waiting for him to open that tiny window to the outside world, an infinite wave of love and affection swept him away.

'_Father! Oh, Father!'_ came the sweetest mind-voice.

Tears rolled down Anakin's face again. He almost blacked out for the second time that afternoon, only this time with indescribable joy.

'_Luke! My precious child! Are you all right, Son?'_ he sobbed in absolute relief. His life had been handed back to him.

'_Yes, Father, I'm fine.'_ Luke replied, sending a grateful mental caress. '_I'll be home in six hours. Rest now, Father. You'll see me beside you when you next wake up.'_

'_But...!' _Anakin was reluctant to break the contact. It had been so unthinkably horrendous...

'_Sleep,'_ Luke insisted, almost irresistibly. _'I'm in one piece, I promise.'_

'_All right,'_ Anakin relented, his heart aching inside. _'I'll see you soon, my son.'_

'_Soon, Father.'_ came Luke's loving promise before the contact was softly broken.

Elena held her father's hand and squeezed it. "I was so worried about you. I thought..." her voice cracked and she looked away.

Anakin's other hand settled above her own and squeezed it lovingly.

"I know my daughter. I know. I'm sorry."

"I felt your fear for Luke and rushed off to find you and I found you unconscious in the bathroom." she confessed in a weak and vulnerable voice, looking back at him, her eyes fearful and frightened.

"It mustn't have been a pretty sight." Anakin remembered his condition before passing out only too well. "I'm sorry you found me in that state, Elena."

Suddenly everything seemed to take its toll on Elena and she started to sway on her feet.

"Elena!" Anakin cried as he watched his daughter swayed on her feet and reached out to her.

"I'm… fine, Dad." She told him as she sat down on the bed beside her father.

Anakin sighed and rubbed his daughter's arm as he slowly fell back to sleep.

He slowly woke to the sound of voices. He strained to listen to what they were saying and he realized they were talking about him.

"He's waking up," said a kind female voice.

"I know," replied another voice, very close to him.

The unashamed love in the second voice tore at Anakin's heartstrings and in a sudden rush of brutal, desperate need, he opened his eyes.

The bright light in the room made him close them again with a painful wince, and he immediately felt a soft but intense pressure on his hand.

"Shhhh, easy, Father. I'm here, with you."

"Luke." Anakin said the word like a prayer, like a gift from the heavens. He struggled to open his eyes again.

"Yes." The emotion in his child's voice was overwhelming.

Anakin's eyes filled with tears as his son's mind softly touched his own. He finally opened them a tiny slit and saw Luke's smiling face, leaning over him. There was a gash on his forehead and several cuts and abrasions scattered all over his face. But none of them seemed to bother him, as he grinned down at him, love written all over his boyish face.

Anakin reached out and hugged the young man to him for all he was worth. This was all he needed, even more than all the smiles and reassuring words in the world. The warm and sweet presence of his son's breathing and living body in his arms.

"Oh, Luke! Luke! Bless the Force you're safe, my child! If something happened to you...!" he buried his face in his son's shoulder.

Luke returned the embrace, holding on to his father's top just as desperately. Even though he had been unconscious at the time, somehow he felt his father had '_died_,' and when he had awakened aboard the ship, he'd cried out for him, his mind trying to reach him frantically. Only when he had touched his father's lifeforce again, had he calmed down enough to let his friends tend his wounds.

They clung to one another for a very long time, literally feeding from the contact, unwilling to let go. Until, little by little, they lessened their hold and moved back, their eyes roaming each other. Luke wiped away the tears on his father's cheeks, and Anakin fingered the cuts and bruises on his son's face with the utmost tenderness.

Elena then wrapped her arms around her brother and her father and sent them love and comfort through their three-way link. Anakin slowly released one arm from around Luke and wrapped it around his daughter and held his two most precious treasures.

It was 08:30 hours and Anakin was watching over his son's sleep. He had been unable to separate from his child's side all evening, and when it was time to retire for the night, he had procrastinated as much as possible in Luke's quarters.

As he rejoiced in his son's peaceful sleep, the sight of his noble, boyish features scattered with cuts and bruises, made Anakin feel such a deep pain that he had to sit down on his child's bed. Luckily, Luke didn't awake.

It wasn't the first time he felt like this. As a matter of fact, he was thoroughly familiar with the feeling since he had become a father. It was a constant pain in his chest that could be called by many names: worry, uncertainty, need to protect, downright fear... but all those separate feelings coalesced in one single word. _Love._ The most immense and sublime feeling in the Universe.

It was a pain he knew would accompany him for as long as he lived; but he wouldn't change it for anything. It was the feeling that defined him as a sentient being. He was a father. A Father. He was meant to protect his children, to provide for them, to love them beyond reason; to _die_ for them happily and with a smile of contentment on his face.

As a father, he lived in a perpetual state of alarm and trepidation. A parent never knew peace, for the world out there was never safe enough and good enough for their children. And unfortunately for them, the kind of life they led didn't make it any easier.

Major conflict there, no question about it. He wanted his children safe, but he couldn't interfere with their destinies. They had chosen that path; it was what they were meant to be. He could only pray and shield them from any harm as best he could, knowing it would not always be possible.

He bit his lower lip at the notion of his children getting seriously hurt, or worse. He shook his head sharply, casting away the unthinkable thought. All parents lived with those fears. He was no different.

He could learn to live with those fears, but that didn't mean he had to accept it. He _never_ would. And the sight of it before him now was too painful to bear.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

A few months later and things were not okay. Someone was trying hard to get rid of Anakin by any means necessary.

Elena and Luke were on alert. If someone wanted to mess with their father they made mess with them as well.

One suspect was a guy call Shane Matthews.

Anakin immediately remembered the name. He told his children that Shane was a guy who tried many attempts to court their mother but was angered by the fact that Nicole chose Anakin over him.

Elena and Luke guessed that maybe Shane blamed their father or the former Darth Vader for their mother's death and that would give him a reason to kill him in revenge for taking their mother from him.

Elena sat in her room reading a datapad that had been her mother's and read what she had written about her father.

_When I first met Anakin was when I first set foot on Coruscant and was assigned two Jedi protectors to protect me for the attempts on my life._

_I never dreamed that once I became Senator that someone would try to kill me. It was thoughtful of the Jedi to send two of their people to protect me._

_My Jedi protectors were Obi Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker. From the moment I laid eyes on Anakin I knew that I was head over heals in love with him._

_Slowly over the time we spent together we got to know each other very well. Then things changed when the Clone Wars began, somehow the Jedi found out about mine and Anakin's relationship and demanded that it was ended for good._

_I couldn't do it. I told Anakin that I could never forget him and that I didn't want to end our relationship so we married in secret and promised that we would pretend to be on good terms with each other in public._

_But I felt that the war was changing Anakin he was starting to grow distant until I didn't recognise him but then a miracle happened. I fell pregnant with our child, as soon as I told him the Anakin I knew was back._

_But then he started to have bad dreams, always of me dying in childbirth but he didn't know what the outcome for our baby was. From that moment he promised that he would find some way to save me, but I fear that by doing that I would lose the man I love._

Elena had tears running down her cheeks hitting the screen. Her mother truly did love her father.

"Elena?"

Elena looked up and stared in the blue eyes of her father. Once Anakin saw his daughter was crying he rushed to her side and held her close.

"Sweetheart, what wrong?"

Elena just held out the datapad to her father indicating for him to read what she had moments ago. Anakin's eyes skimmed over the text and widened in realisation he stared at his daughter.

"You and mum truly did love each other." She whispered in a small voice.

Anakin set the datapad down and held his daughter's hand in his and cupped her cheek in his other hand.

"I have never stopped loving your mother, Elena. You and Luke are the last remaining pieces I have of her. Both of you are so much like your mother."

Elena closed her eyes and reached out to her brother and was surrounded by comfort and love that her brother sent her trough their mental link.

Anakin hugged his daughter, gently stroking her hair to soothe her. Soon he felt his son's presence and felt him join their embrace.

Anakin sat there holding his children, his two most precious treasures to him. He wished so much that Nicole could be with them but he knew that she was always watching over them doing what she did best, protecting the ones she loves.

Things then changed when Elena was assigned her first Jedi mission. Anakin was worried for his daughter after what her brother had been through he didn't want the same to happen to Elena.

Two days later, Elena contacted her father's mind to tell him that she was returning home.

Anakin was looking forward to having his daughter back. He missed Elena dearly.

On the day of Elena's return Anakin was practicing with his lightsaber when Luke rushed into the room.

"Father! Father!" He yelled.

"What is it Luke?" Anakin asked as he deactivated his lightsaber.

"Elena's back!" Luke cried.

Anakin smiled at his son as they left the room looking for the young Jedi.

Elena was walking through the halls looking for her brother and father.

"Elena!" She turned and saw her father and brother running towards her.

"Dad! Luke!" She cried as she ran to them.

Soon Elena found herself in the embrace of her father and brother who she knew were happy to see her back safe and sound.

Anakin came out of his bathroom and prepared himself to get into bed. He took off his robe and put it on the back of an easy chair next to his bed. Then, he sat down cross-legged on the covers, and prepared himself for his customary few minutes of cleansing meditation before going to sleep.

For some reason, he felt restless and uncomfortable, as an animal anticipating an earthquake. But the restlessness came from _inside_ him, not outside, and he knew what that meant.

The older Jedi sighed in resigned defeat. Nightmares would plague him tonight again. With quiet acceptance, he prepared himself. He raised a mental block, separating his subconscious from his son's and daughter's, that way preventing them from being awakened by the bleeding of their father's psyche onto their own.

His head turned to the small holograph on his bedside table. Himself, Luke on his right, laughing at a joke his father had told, and Elena on his left, smiling brightly at her father and brother.

Anakin's heart filled to bursting with love. Yes, those two little angels were worth the most terrifying nightmares. They were worth his sanity, every drop of his blood. They were worth his very soul, unworthy as it was.

With a throbbing ache in his heart, Anakin moved his hand back, opened the bedcovers and got into bed. He tucked himself up and as he always did, he looked at the empty spot beside him.

"Good night, my angel," he whispered into the now dark room, "take care of us from wherever you are. I love you, and I always will, my love."

His own silent scream awakened him. His throat was all raw and sore, and he sat up with a jerk, his arms flailing in the darkness of his room. He searched blindly for the lights. He couldn't find the wall, he couldn't even remember where he was. He was in that blurry place between dream and reality, where everything's so vivid that death seems a welcome relief from so much horror.

And then, he was being wrapped in small, warm arms. His head was pressed up to an infinitely protective chest that sheltered him, and enveloped him in more tenderness and love than he had ever known. Soft, loving fingers buried themselves in his hair and began a soothing, rhythmic stroking, massaging his scalp and relieving the pressure there, that was more than he could bear.

Helpless as a baby, Anakin clung to the person who was holding him, recognizing him at a purely instinctive level.

"Elena. Elena. Elena. Elena...' he chanted, unable to stop. Only that name could scare the fear away. Only that name was the light in the dark, the sanity in the bottomless pit of madness that was swallowing him alive.

"Yes, Dad," the most beautiful voice in the universe calmed him. "I am here, with you. You are safe in my arms now. Nothing and no one will harm you. Don't be afraid."

But Anakin was beyond reasoning. Logic had deserted him and he could only be reached through feelings, through touch. Through love.

"He... he threatened me with turning you and your brother if... if I... and then..." he moaned, incapable of saying the words, and hid his face in his daughter's chest, wanting to disappear there.

"I know. I felt your dream," Elena said, holding back a shiver. But she had to be strong for her father now. For the two of them. She held Anakin tighter. "_I am_ safe. _You are_ safe. We all are. Everything's all right."

"There was so much hatred in your eyes when you looked at me... I had lost you. I had lost my little one forever!" Anakin cried, grabbing his child's pyjama top and almost tearing it.

"You will _never_ lose me, Dad. Nothing will take me away from you. No one will take _this_ away from us!" Elena exclaimed passionately, nuzzling the hair on the top of her father's sweaty head and kissing it. She began rocking the brutally trembling body, caressing the long back up and down with one hand, and sinking the other in the blonde strands. Her father was keeping her hair longer than usual these days, and she liked it. It was slightly wavy, and it was wavier now that it was soaking wet. "Shhh, it's all right. Everything's all right. Hold on to me. I will keep the fear away. Shhhh."

Anakin obeyed the soft commands trustingly, and little by little, the searing, mindless terror began receding. He wrapped his own arms around the body holding him, completing the circle of love.

"That's it," Elena smiled, her heart bursting with tenderness. "Relax, breathe deeply. Let the Light soothe you."

"You are the Light, my beautiful Light, little angel," the words left Anakin's lips of their own volition.

"Oh, Force!" Elena exclaimed, her own tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her father's hair, and then, she let go. She rained dozens of devoted kisses on the precious head she held, and pressed it closer to her chest.

"I love you, little one." Anakin whispered, closing his eyes and rubbing his face against his child's chest, all of him crying out for more comfort.

"And I love you, Dad." Her fingertips searched in the darkness for her father's face and wiped the tears away. Then, she bent down and kissed the burning eyelids, making the stinging go away.

Anakin moaned softly.

Elena closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. Now that the worst was over, the delayed shock of her father's nightmare and being awakened by his distraught mental scream, was beginning to settle in. She understood right then and there what her father had been doing these past months, and it infuriated her.

"Never, _ever_ shield your mind from mine again. Don't you dare to deny me what you would take from me gratefully, do you hear?" she ordered, her voice strained and edgy. "We're stronger together, and only together will we get over this, sane and whole. You are my strength, Dad, as I and Luke are yours. Don't do this to us again." She looked down at the flushed face, and her anger dissipated as if by magic at the sight of those wounded eyes.

Anakin pursed his lips and nodded his head in acquiescence.

"I just wanted..."

"To protect us, I know," Elena smiled. "But we can't hide from each other. We should know that by now. Our destinies are inextricably bound. What happens to you, happens to me. Your fears are my fears." She took a deep, calming breath.

"You can go back to bed now. I will be fine." Anakin said after a short pause.

Elena didn't move and didn't say a word.

"Elena?" Anakin looked up at his child curiously. "I'm all right. You can return to your quarters. You can't be comfortable like this, sweetheart."

"I'm perfectly comfortable and I'm _exactly_ where I want to be," Elena settled the matter. She pulled her father's body closer and placed Anakin's head on her heart, feeling instinctively that the rhythmic beating would lull him to a dreamless sleep. "Let us sleep now. There will be no more nightmares; I'll make sure of that."

Anakin bit his lower lip. He felt guilty for not insisting, but sleep tonight without that blinding source of Light and Love rocking his tortured soul would be impossible.

'_I need this as much as you do, Dad. Allow me this honour.'_

Anakin closed his eyes and took a deep, searing breath. Force, it hurt to breathe through so much love!

'_My little angel!'_ he sent, before succumbing to the most restful sleep he'd had in decades.

Elena remained awake a few minutes more, drinking in the peace and contentment emanating from the sleeping form in her arms.

She was shocked at the wall her father had been putting up between them to protect her from the horrors that lurked in his mind. She wondered how her father had held on all this time without going mad.

Looking down at her father, sleeping so trustingly in her arms, Elena felt her heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. If only...!

If only.

She took her father's hand in her own, and felt Anakin returning the pressure automatically in his sleep.

Biting her lip, Elena wrapped the covers more securely around her father and held him intensely. No more nightmares for him tonight, even if she had to fight them one by one.

With a last look at the slowly rising sun and burying one hand in the soft wavy hair, Elena joined her father in the foggy realm of sleep.

The beeping noises in the background were getting louder and louder. Elena made a face in her sleep and tried to shut them out, but they only became more insistent. Opening her eyes reluctantly, she squinted at the light that illuminated the room. She looked at the alarm, realizing that it was an hour later than they usually got up. How...?

A short beep made her turn her head and she saw Artoo a couple metres away from the bed.

"It was you, wasn't it? You turned it off so we could sleep a little bit more." she stated with a little smile.

Artoo admitted it with a soft beep.

"You did right, Artoo; thank you," Elena nodded at the droid. "We needed it." She looked down at Anakin; sound asleep in her arms, totally oblivious to their conversation. "I don't want to wake him up," she muttered to herself. "He's sleeping so peacefully for once..." she unconsciously tightened her hold as if trying to keep her father's demons away by sheer force of will. "I wish I could do more. How will I go to sleep from now on, knowing that for my father is a time of horror and madness? How will my love be strong enough to keep him sane and whole?" She let out a helpless sob. She bent forward and rested her forehead on her father's. She murmured a quiet prayer for the Force to help her father deal with his nightmares.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

One night Luke tossed and turned in his sleep.

_"DAD, LOOK OUT!"_

_"ELENA!"_

_"Elena! Oh, my angel, my little angel."_

_"Luke,"_

_"You became a part of me before I knew you __were__ a part of me. My family. You were always my strength and my focus."_

_"Don't cry, Dad. Please, don't cry,"_

_"My baby, my angel, my beautiful little angel!"_

_Don't leave me, my angel. Don't go. Don't go, I beg you!"_

_"I love you, Dad,"_

_"You will come back to me. You __will__ come back to __me__. YOU-WILL-COME-BACK-TO-ME!"_

Luke sat up. He was gasping and covered in sweat. What was that? A vision?

He then realised in the vision it was centred on Elena. Something bad was going to happen, something horrible and somehow it included Elena.

Things turned from bad to worse. Someone had sent an army of droids after the three Skywalkers. It was obvious that someone was out to get the Skywalker family.

A few days later Anakin and Luke had been practicing when they took a short break.

Anakin's eyes settled on his son, adoringly. "It..." he stiffened and his head immediately tilted to one side, as if listening to some inner voice.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"Your sister needs me." Anakin said, standing up.

"Is she all right?" Luke got immediately serious.

"Yes. She's having a nightmare." Anakin reassured him, heading for the door.

"NOOO!" She cried out, sitting up on her bed with a brutal jerk. Her hand fumbled in the dark, found the lights and turned them on with a slap.

She was bathed in sweat, trembling from head to foot, and she buried her face in her hands, unable to hold back the racking sobs exploding from her.

She felt a rush of air beside her and the weight of something hollowing the bed. Without thinking, she reached out and clung to it; to _him_.

Long, strong arms brought her close and held her in a crushing embrace. She felt small and insignificant, as if anything could hurt her. But she was safe now, as long as she had those arms wrapped around her.

"Oh, Dad!" she moaned in between gasps.

"I am here. I'm right here, little one," replied the gentlest voice, so full of love that she almost forgot why she was so terrified. "Hold on to me. It will pass. It's going to pass now, you'll see. Shhhhh." Hands stroked his back up and down soothingly. The body she was clinging to began a slow rocking motion, and she surrendered to it like a baby depending on her parent's strength to survive. Fingers slid through her soaked, dishevelled hair, massaging her pounding scalp and easing the splitting headache.

Elena's own body followed blindly the rhythm of her father's rocking motions, and an overwhelming sense of peace suffused his being. She swallowed hard.

"Please, don't let me go." she begged with urgent, raw need.

"Never." was the impassioned answer. Anakin's lips kissed the top of her head.

Elena returned the embrace for all she was worth, burying her face in her father's chest, wanting to disappear there. This was the only place in the universe where she was truly safe. Where no evil could touch her. And yet... some terrifying knowledge lurked right at the edge of her consciousness, as if trying to warn her, to force her to see...

She recoiled from that shadow and sought refuge in her father's arms.

"Easy, easy," Anakin murmured, rubbing his child's tense shoulders. His daughter's body felt about to snap, so unbelievably rigid it was. "Nothing will harm you for as long as I live. Shhh, shhhh..."

They both knew it was a lie. No one could keep their loved ones from all harm. But the promise of it was so comforting, that they suspended disbelief for these blissful moments when it _seemed_ possible.

Several minutes passed thus, with Elena trembling like a leaf and her father all wrapped around her. Finally, Anakin felt Elena's body relaxing a little and her mind opening up to him.

"Can you talk about it?" he asked with a last kiss on his child's forehead.

Elena pressed up against him one last desperate time, before swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I-it was dark. All around me. I call out to see if there was anyone else there." she explained, her voice muffled against Anakin's chest. "I think you were there. And Luke. I felt both of your presences. Everything was so unclear... And then I felt myself falling. I was falling!"

"Shhhhhh," Anakin held her tight once more. "It's okay Elena. It was just a dream. Nothing more."

Elena nodded and felt her eyes slowly closed. Anakin watched his daughter drift off back to sleep as he slowly laid her down and covered her up with her blanket.

"Sweet dreams, my angel." he smiled down at his offspring, unable to resist tucking her in.

Elena grabbed the nearest hand.

"Sweet dreams, Dad. Love you."

Anakin's heart flip-flopped in his chest at the naturalness with which Elena uttered those words. His daughter's love. Something that couldn't be coerced or bought, freely given from that pure and innocent heart. He didn't know what had he ever done to deserve it, but it _was_ his. The trembling Jedi wrapped that love around his own needy heart, holding it to his soul, a treasure beyond compare.

"My beautiful little girl." he whispered, the words leaving his lips before he could stop them. He turned on his heels and left his child's room.

He could feel the warmth of the sun on his face. A new day had come. A long, busy day, full of uncertainties and who knew what else. Just like any other day.

Anakin's mind awakened slowly, and as usual, he took the first few minutes of every new day to shamelessly enjoy the feelings his skin transmitted to his brain. He rejoiced in those sensations every single morning of his new life. The soft, delicate feel of the sheets on his body, the fluffy comfort of the pillow under his head, the weight of something lying across his chest...

That one was new.

Anakin opened his eyes to make certain he wasn't going mad.

The sight that greeted his eyes was a mop of dishevelled blond hair sticking out from beneath the sheets.

The older Jedi's heart exploded in a bubble of tenderness as he'd never known. His eyes filled with tears, and the most overwhelming feeling of protection rose in his chest. His arms moved automatically to wrap themselves around the body resting on him. One hand grabbed the sheets and moved them down a little.

Elena's head appeared before him. The upper half of her body was lying on him, her left hand forming a fist and clinging to his pyjama top like a frightened baby. Her face was hidden in his chest, where she seemed to have buried it, seeking refuge from something.

"My sweet, precious little angel." he whispered, safe in the knowledge of not being heard. He pressed his lips to the top of the tousled hair.

He didn't know what had brought Elena into his bed. His intuition told him it had to be either a nightmare, or a discovery that had disturbed her so much that it had forced her to seek out her father's comfort. Whatever it was, he was almost grateful for it.

Then, much too soon, Elena began to stir in his arms. Anakin felt her rubbing her face against his chest, like an awakening cub. He set to watch her, revelling in every cute little gesture he was so privileged to witness.

Elena turned her head to one side, resting the right side of her face on his chest. The blonde lashes fluttered open. A few moments passed, as the young woman took in her unusual surroundings. Anakin prepared himself for the instinctive stiffening of the smaller body.

When it came, he could barely hold back a grin. But it took his child longer than he expected to relax, and instead of relaxing fully, Elena enfolded him in her arms and clung to him like a drowning man to a lifesaver.

Frowning suspiciously, Anakin's own arms responded to the searing distress emanating from his daughter's body. He enveloped his child in his long arms and held her intensely.

It was then that Elena realized her father was awake. Embarrassment poured out of her, and a deep blush covered her face and neck to the roots of her hair.

Anakin's hand buried itself in his child's hair.

'_Like this or you'd rather talk?'_ he sent mentally.

Elena squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, as if trying to get rid of a scary image in her mind.

"Calm down, Sweetheart. I am here. You are safe." Anakin kissed the blonde head, nuzzling the soft strands comfortingly.

Anakin knew it was time for them to get up, but a part of him was reluctant to give up this blissful closeness. Now that he had had another glimpse at the beauty of yet something else he had missed, he just couldn't let it go. Not so soon.

And judging from the way Elena burrowed into him, his daughter was just as reluctant to move.

"What is it, Elena?" The question was out of his lips before he even thought about it. He wondered why.

"I need you," was the heartbreaking answer. "I will always need you." Were there... tears in that voice?

"My precious little angel!" Anakin's heart ached as if a fist was squeezing the life out of it.

"Hold me." Elena begged unashamedly.

"For as long as you need it. Forever, if you want." Anakin promised fervently, increasing his already strong hold on his daughter.

"I don't know what's happening to me. I— I just..." Elena tried to explain herself.

"Shhh, it is all right. We don't have to be strong all the time. We all feel alone and scared. We all need each other, never mind how old we are. Don't be ashamed of needing this." Anakin cuddled his child. "I need it more than you do."

"I love you, Dad." Elena whispered against Anakin's chest.

"And I love you, Sweetheart." Anakin tried to bring some levity to the moment.

They stopped worrying about the time. This was all that mattered. All they needed. All they would ever need.

"I am complete." Anakin murmured into his child's ear.

"Me too," Elena sighed into her father's chest, wiping away her tears there. "I am the most fortunate being in the galaxy. Life granted me the only thing I ever wanted. I have a father now. _My_ Father. _Mine_!" In a final burst of need, she clung to Anakin, almost hurting him with the strength she pressed up against him.

'_My treasure.'_ Anakin thought to himself, wiping his own tears away in the soft blonde hair.

Unexpectedly, Elena rose on her elbows and looked down at her father with a wistful smile on her face.

Anakin had caught his child looking at him that way several times in the last few months, but there was such an unbearable intensity in her stare this time, that his heart skipped a beat.

"Elena..." he began, reaching up and framing his daughter's cheek in his palm.

"Just want to look at you. To remember this moment forever." Elena interrupted him, wrapping her arms around her father's neck and embracing him one last, desperate time.

Then she got up and made her way towards the door.

"Elena." her father called when she was about to reach the doors.

The young Jedi turned around and faced Anakin.

Anakin's features lit up with love and he opened his arms wide. An instant later, he was holding an armful of little Jedi, cuddling up to her as if his very life depended on it.

"You know I would die a million times before hurting you or having you disappointed in me, don't you, my daughter?" Anakin whispered into the soft hair. "You know I love you more than anything, and I won't let anyone hurt you. You know...?"

"I love you when you get all topsy-turvy, Dad," Elena silenced the nervous babbling, burying her face in the strong chest, feeling as if she could live there forever. "Thank you for putting up with my fears and insecurities. Thank you for this."

Anakin smiled as he held his daughter. "You're most welcome."

Soon the attacks on the Skywalker family increased until suddenly the building was under-attack from an army of droids.

"Elena, Luke you both ready to do this?" Anakin called to his children, Luke to his right, Elena to his right. Both were ready with their lightsabers Luke's green and Elena's blue.

"Yes, Father we are." Luke responded.

"Jedi till the end, right Dad?" Elena said.

Anakin smiled at his children and all three took up fighting positions.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas. I own nothing except Elena Skywalker and anyone else you don't recognise.**

**All mistakes my own.**

Between the three of them the Skywalker family destroyed all the droids ending the threat to the people of the Republic.

A sudden intuition made Elena look up. Standing on a catwalk above them Shane was aiming what seemed to be a small blaster... at her father!

"DAD, LOOK OUT!" she cried out, jumping into the air and covering Anakin with her own body.

Shane fired.

Elena collapsed on top of her father, knocking all the air out of Anakin's lungs.

The world seemed to stand still as both Anakin and Luke faced each other understanding what Elena had just done.

Summoning up his strength somehow, Anakin moved out from beneath his child with infinite care, and held her against his chest.

"Elena! Oh, my angel, my little angel, why did you do that?" he moaned time and again, rocking her as he would a baby.

Struggling to focus, Elena's eyes rested on her father, shining with love.

Anakin cradled his daughter's head in the crook of his arm, making it as comfortable as he could. The backs of his fingers stroked the drawn cheeks endlessly. Part of him was numb, deep in denial. This was too sudden, too unthinkable to be real. His child couldn't be dying in his arms! She had to be in bed, sleeping, deep in the most horrendous nightmare of all.

"Luke," she called, her suddenly unfocused eyes looking blindly for her brother.

The older Skywalker grasped his sister's hand, brought it to his lips and began kissing it in despair.

"My brave brother," Elena smiled, a look of infinite calm and peace crossing her features. "You became a part of me before I knew you _were_ a part of me. My family. You were always my strength and my focus."

Anakin sat her up, placing the head on his shoulder with infinite tenderness. Luke hurled himself at his sister and held on to her; as if by clinging to her for all he was worth he could keep her alive. He soaked the collar of her top with his tears. Elena returned his embrace as best as she could, hiding her face in his neck.

Elena then turned her attention to her father but what she saw broke her heart.

The sight of that big man, crying and sobbing desperately, was more than she could bear. She reached up and caressed Anakin's chin with the backs of her fingers.

"Don't cry, Dad. Please, don't cry," she begged. "It breaks my heart to see you cry."

"You are my heart. You are my soul," Anakin said, holding the caressing hand in his and kissing the palm. "How will I live without you?" Just then, the knowledge that these were his last moments with his daughter hit him fully. He shook his head from side to side. "No. I won't. I _won't_ live without you!" he cried out.

"You must," Elena reminded him quietly. "For Luke, for his future children. Your grandchildren. The next generation of Skywalkers... must be trained. And you are the only one who can do it." She released her hand from his father's grasp and wiped away the tears that streamed down the much-loved face. "And you must live for yourself, too. For all the good things you still can do, for all the lives you will save and influence positively. And you must live for me."

Anakin shook his head and looked down into his daughter's barely focusing eyes.

"I lost your mother," the tears fell now on Elena's face, and he wiped them away hastily. "I can't lose you too. I cannot!"

Elena smiled sadly and her fingertips felt the soft, wet face she could hardly see anymore. She stroked the smooth, good-looking features all over, reading them and memorizing them as blind people did.

Anakin moaned out loud.

He framed Elena's face in his palm and covered it with kisses. "My baby, my angel, my beautiful little angel!" Brutal sobs shattered his spirit again.

Anakin's falling apart was killing Elena. She had to do something. She had to offer some hope, as tiny and insignificant as it was. She had to give her father a reason to want to go on living.

"Don't be afraid. I will always be with you," her voice came out slow and infinitely peaceful. "In here," she touched his father's chest and cuddled up to it, "and in here," she touched his temple.

Anakin let out a heart-rending sob and rested his soaked cheek on his child's forehead.

"Don't leave me, my angel. Don't go. Don't go, I beg you!"

"I love you, Dad." she whispered as her eyes slowly closed.

"NO! You _won't_ leave me!" he ordered. "No_," _he moaned_. "_Stay. Stay! Stay!_ STAY!"_ he screamed.

"Come on, Elena! Come on, little one! Come back to me! Come back to me!" he began chanting.

He lost track of time, calling upon the Light to assist him, to guide him, to show him the way in the darkness of a lifetime without his greatest blessing, lifeless on the floor beside him.

"Come on, Elena! Don't do this to me!" Anakin continued unrelentingly. "You shared your gift with me, show me now what to do with it! I won't stop until you come back." He was sweating and panting, on the brink of a physical and emotional breakdown. "Please, please, my baby! Come back to me. Come back to me. Come back to me..." the litany was back, as he pressed down even harder. "You will come back to me. You _will_ come back to _me_. YOU-WILL-COME-BACK-TO-ME!" he yelled, with the last spark of sanity he had left.

Both father and son jerked back with a muffled scream when Elena's eyes opened wide all of a sudden. The young woman began drawing deep and fast intakes of breath, filling her lungs with badly needed oxygen.

Luke was the first to react. He reached out a shaking hand, and touched Elena's cheek.

Elena's eyes filled with tears, and she reached up, holding Luke's hand in hers.

"Hello, big brother." she greeted him, kissing the back of his hand.

Letting go, Luke hurled himself at his sister. The two siblings hugged desperately, both drawing comfort from the other.

Anakin watched the scene, his mouth half-open. He looked down at his hands.

He had done it. He had healed his daughter. He had healed Elena.

Elena immediately turned to Anakin. "I love you Dad," she whispered to her father. "Thank you for bringing me back."

And those were the words that released Anakin from his invisible, icy chains. He unfurled himself and crushed the smaller body to his chest.

"My baby!" he exclaimed. "My precious little angel!" His lips began kissing the girlish face everywhere. "I love you. I love you so much!"

Soon Luke joined the hugged and Anakin thanked the Force for not taking his daughter from him.

'_What did I ever do to deserve two guardian angels like you? So brave and honest, defending... this?' __He asked them both through their link._

'_You are our strength, Father. And we are yours. We are a family!' __Both Luke and Elena cried._

A couple years later Anakin found himself standing in one of the meditation gardens.

He thought back on the last few years Elena and Luke helped him restore the Jedi Order, both of his children got married and he was a proud grandfather of three children.

He remembered the day Elena blessed him with not one but two grandchildren.

_Anakin Skywalker walked through the walls making his way towards the Healer Wing. As soon as he was informed that his daughter was in the Healer Wing giving birth to his grandchild he made his way to the Healer Wing to be with his daughter._

_The doors opened and he started to make his way over to his daughter but was stopped by the Master Healer's assistant._

"_I'm sorry, Master Skywalker but you will have to wait outside."_

_Anakin stared at the assistant. "That is my daughter having my grandchild."_

"_I understand that, but for the health of both mother and child we are asking the family to wait outside."_

_Anakin sighed as he turned and left the room. He walked out as Luke appeared._

"_Is she alright?" He asked his father once he was close._

"_I don't know, son. We've been asked to wait here."_

"_What?! But Elena needs us!"_

_Anakin walked over and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "I know, son. But the healer believes that for the health of both Elena and her child we should wait here."_

_Luke sighed before he walked over to the door and rested his hand against the door. "I don't like the idea of waiting here when my twin needs me."_

_Suddenly a voice broke the silence that had fallen on them._

"_DAD! LUKE! WHERE ARE MY BROTHER AND FATHER?"_

_That spurred both father and son to rush off to join Elena. Each took position on either side of Elena's bed and held her hands as she started pushing._

_"Good! The head's out." The healer said a few minutes later. "One more push."_

_Elena screamed as she pushed once again and the baby came free. Both Luke and Anakin gasped as they saw a small baby appear over the sheet, matted with blood and fluid. Its face scrunched up as the healer took a blanket and wrapped the tiny baby up and announced, "It's a boy!"_

_Anakin held out his arms and took his grandson into his arms. He smiled at the baby stopped crying once it was wrapped in a warm blanket. Elena smiled at the happiest her father radiated._

_"Ah!" Elena moaned suddenly._

_"What is it?" Luke asked._

_"Something's wrong," she said. "I feel like pushing again."_

_"What do you mean, 'pushing again'?" he asked._

_"I'm having contractions. I feel something moving inside me,._

_The healer checked and let out a gasp._

_"What? What is it?" Anakin asked the healer._

"_It seems that you will be the mother of twins."_

_Elena, Anakin and Luke stared at the healer. Then Elena gasped as she started to push again. Anakin shifted his grandson to the crook of his arm and used his free hand to take Elena's._

_"Push, Elena. You're doing great. Keep pushing and breathe deeply. It'll be over very soon."_

"_I can't. I can't do it."_

_Luke rested his free hand on his sister's forehead and leaned his head forward. "You can do this, Elena. I have faith in you, Father has faith in you. You have to keep pushing this is your child you can't give up now."_

_Elena nodded and pushed with all her remaining strength._

_A few minutes later, Anakin and Luke felt another pulse of Force energy and a second later the second's baby scream filled the room. "It's a girl!" the healer told them. _

_Elena laid back, gasping for air. __She reached out. "Let me see them," she told her brother and father. Luke helped her sit up before he and Anakin placed a baby in each of her arms._

"_They need names, Elena." Anakin told his daughter._

_Elena nodded and looked at her two children. "The girl shall be Nicole Shmi Skywalker and the boy Hayden Anakin Skywalker."_

That day stayed with Anakin the most. His daughter had named her children after her parents and her grandmother. Then Luke became a father himself.

_Elena and Anakin waited for news of Luke's baby._

_They stood when Luke approached them, a small bundle in his arms and a smile plastered on his face._

"_It's a boy." He said as he gently pulled the blanket away revealing a newborn baby boy, fast asleep in his father's arms._

"_Oh, Luke. He's absolutely gorgeous." Elena said hugging her brother as he hugged her back._

"_Congratulations, Son." Anakin said shaking hands with his son._

"_Thanks Dad."_

"_So what's this little guy's name?" Elena asked._

"_Ben. Ben Skywalker."_

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Voices called from behind him. Anakin turned and felt his three grandchildren wrapped their arms around his legs.

"There you guys are! I thought you weren't coming."

"You silly Grandpa!" Hayden Skywalker said.

Anakin smiled as he hugged each child before he watched them run off to play.

He was then joined by his two treasures. Elena and Luke walked up to their father and wrapped their arms around him as he wrapped his arms around them.

"You two might be all grown up but you are still children to me." He told them.

"And you are our father. No one can take that away." Elena said releasing her brother and father.

Anakin stared at his two children, thanking the Force for bringing him back to the Light and back to his two must loved treasures in the whole universe.

'_Watch over us, Angel. From wherever you are.' _He thought mentally to his truly love.


End file.
